After a long and frustrating day, Brittany needed an outlet. Instead of heading home as she normally would during a work week, she detoured back to the Arena. Making a beeline to the locker room, she quickly changed out of her police uniform and into a fresh pair of gray duds that she had obtained at the front desk. She waited somewhat impatiently with the throng of other players until the sound of a horn announced the massive entry gate was about to open. Moments later she stepped through the gate and pressed her right temple to activate her NeuReality overlay of the game Conquest.
The scene instantly morphed from the mountains of green foam into a lush landscape of hills and teeming forests in the distance. Brittany knew innately to avoid said forests however after her recent encounter with the Basilisks.
She smiled as her gray duds morphed into battle armor fit for the gorgeous warrior woman she truly was. With her blazing broadsword attached to her hip, she felt complete. Accessing her HUD, she scrolled through the available quests to choose from. One of them looked promising: a quest titled "Exploring Ruins". It sounded like it could take some time to complete which would be perfect for her current mood.
Brittany selected this Quest, and a prompt appeared.
Exploring the Ruins of Armaros
Your mission is to explore the ruins to seek and retrieve the Lost Swords of King Armaros. You will receive 500 XP and your choice of skillset upgrades by successfully completing this quest. Failure to complete this quest however will come with a penalty of -100 XP. Do you wish to accept this Quest?
Yes | No
Brittany selected “Yes”, and immediately a Spawn Stone to Armaros appeared in the palm of her hand. She rand her fingers gently across the runes, activating the stone. In a flash of light, she appeared before the gates of Armaros, an ancient city that now lay in ruins.
Rising over a large hill, the ruined walls of Armaros stretched along the horizon. As the sun began its descent behind the distant mountains, Brittany took a moment to admire the scenery. She could see the remains of buildings scattered across the landscape. The main structure, which once served as the palace of the legendary fallen angel Armaros who had long ago been crowned King of the city sat on top of the highest hill overlooking the rest of the city. From where she stood, Brittany could make out the numerous spires that jutted upwards. Each one of them glimmering with a golden glow.
"Wow." she whispered to herself.
If she were to believe everything she had heard and read about Armaros, then this place was truly impressive. If the tales were true, the entire city once radiated with a bright golden light. And there was talk of the city being inhabited by dragons. Although, she could only imagine how silly these stories must have seemed to people thousands of years ago. Even so, Brittany couldn't help but feel drawn to this place. Maybe it was because of all the rumors surrounding it. Or maybe it was just because she had seen a few of the old movies about ancient civilizations. Regardless, Brittany was enthralled.
It didn't take long before her curiosity got the better of her. Walking around the perimeter of the city, she was amazed by the sheer size. There were hundreds of structures still standing. Some of them were massive enough to house tens or even hundreds of people. Others she couldn't identify, but she could tell they had some kind of significance. All of them looked like they had been built without modern machinery or tools. They were crafted with simple stone and wood. But despite their age, most of the buildings remained intact.
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As she moved deeper into the city, Brittany could see evidence of fires throughout the city. Buildings that had once stood proudly against the elements had crumbled to pieces under the onslaught of flame.
It wasn't long before she found what she was looking for. At the entrance to the largest building, she spotted a huge pile of rubble. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was actually the remnants of a great hall. The walls had collapsed when a section of the roof fell in. And judging by the burn marks, she guessed that fire had played a role in destroying the structure.
This is it! The legendary weapons should be inside.
She scanned the area for any sign of a treasure chest, or anything else worth taking. Her eyes soon settled upon a pile of broken boulders. Scattered throughout the debris was a wide variety of weapons and armor. Some of it made sense considering the location of where she had found it. But others… she wasn't sure how to explain those.
"What the...?" Brittany muttered in disbelief.
There was an entire collection of swords lying around. She could see that some of them were different shapes. She figured they probably belonged to different types of sword-wielding creatures. While the others were clearly designed for some type of melee combat.
How am I supposed to know which two of these are the legendary Swords of King Amaros?
But then something caught her attention hanging on the wall of the room.
Brittany's mouth dropped. There they were. In the middle of the room, two swords hung on the wall next to each other. Both of them gleamed brightly in the sunlight that spilled through a hole in the ceiling. They were the same color, with a slight difference between them. On one of the swords, there was a large red gemstone set in the pommel. The other sword had an emerald stone embedded in the hilt.
"How is this possible?" she asked aloud. "These swords are supposed to be among the most powerful weapons in all the realm.Yet here they are just sitting on the wall just waiting to be taken."
With no answer forthcoming, Brittany grabbed one of the swords and held it aloft. It felt good in her hands. Grabbing the second blade, she checked it out as well. It too felt good in her hands. She could tell that both of the blades were made of high quality steel. The one with the ruby in the handle was slightly heavier than the one with the emerald in the end.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to test the power of these swords. After all, she had nothing to lose. Brittany gripped the blades tightly in her hands. Then she closed her eyes and focused. Using her mind, she summoned forth the energy within her soul.
With the muscles in her arms and legs, she began to move the swords. The sensation was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. It was almost as if her body was being controlled by an invisible force. She could feel her limbs moving faster than normal. But at the same time, it seemed as though she was moving slower than usual.
She turned her attention to the stone in the hilt of the sword with the ruby. She brought up her HUD and examined the properties of the enchanted gemstone. According to the description, the ruby was capable of amplifying its user's strength and speed. And it also gave a small resistance to fire damage.
Brittany held the sword out in front of her. The ruby seemed to sparkle brilliantly. For the first time since she began playing, she felt invincible.
"Now this is more like it!" she said to herself.
Before she knew it, Brittany was running full tilt towards the crumbled remains of the palace. Without breaking stride, she jumped onto the roof of the palace and raced across its top. The ground below her feet grew smaller and smaller until she finally came to a stop at the base of the structure.
"Woah!" she said excitedly. "This is amazing!"
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